Menu

Urbanista #3 The Abandoned funicular at Palau Nacional de Montjuic-Barcelona

Strange ruins can be found if you visit Montjuic hill in Barcelona, Spain. The one which attracted us is situated from the north stairways leading to National Palace in Barcelona. My searches in Internet weren’t leading to anything useful except links to galleries with photos from the abandoned amusement park in Montjuic from the 70’s.

And one day I saw old b&w photo of some crazy Disneyland like composition under the ancient shade of the palace. When i googled again with adding the word “funicular” the results brought me back to the International Exposition in 1929. And after a day spent in the park we are ready to present the abandoned funicular rail in park Montjuic.

The exposition called for a great deal of urban development within the city, and became a testing-ground for the new architectural styles developed in the early 20th century.

At a local level, this meant the consolidation of Noucentisme, a classical style that replaced the Modernisme (in the same vein as Glasgow Style / Art Nouveau / Jugendstil, etc.) predominating in Catalonia at the turn of the 20th century.

Furthermore, it marked the arrival in Spain of international avant-garde tendencies, especially rationalism, as seen in the design of the Barcelona Pavilion, created by German Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The Funicular operated only in period of one year during the Universal Exposition in Barcelona.

It lift visitors to the height of 50 meters from the station in the base.

The expo was originally planned for 1917, but was delayed to 1929 by World War I and its consequences.

After the exposition has ended the funicular become useless and it has been dismantled in few months and its cabins send to north of Catalunya.